Funding sets LMC up for TV campaign

A total of £141,900 has been awarded to the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) to help with a promotional campaign of Farm Quality Assured (FQA) beef mince in Northern Ireland.

The EU funding will go

towards a TV and outdoor ad

campaign, to get underway in September, aimed at increasing FQA beef mince consumption as part of a balanced diet. The EU funding will cover half of the total costs of the campaign, with the other half met by the LMC.

The campaign's key messages will be backed up with activities such as cookery demonstrations in schools, which will target young consumers with the 'healthy eating, balanced diet message', and literature informing consumers of the FQA logo and what it means to them.

Naomi Waite, LMC head of marketing, said: "New research has shown that UK consumers prioritise nutritional information above other pieces of point of sale.

"This mince campaign will raise awareness of beef mince in a

balanced diet and will highlight the versatility and traceability of the product, so that consumers can make an informed choice and know exactly what they are

buying."

The LMC were not the only organisation to benefit from EU funding, other meat industry subsidies announced by Brussels included a two-year @910,682 grant to Poland's Krajowa Rada Drobiastwa, to promote goose meat; Finland's FINFOOD-Suomen ruokatieto pocketed @400,000 to promote poultry meat over three years; Austria's Agrarmarkt Austria Marketing received @1.35 million for pushing beef, veal and pigmeat sales over three years; and @1.54 million is to be paid to Greece's Kinopraxia Kypriakon Pthnotrofikon Proioton and Cyprus'

PINDOS over two years for poultry promotion.

The European Commission had approved all the information, public relations and marketing campaigns in advance.